5 Older Cars That Are Almost Extinct

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I'll miss the 240Z and the Euro Capri of the '70s. The rest- not so much...
 
Unfortunately,the singer Laura Branigan is also extinct.She died of a brain aneurism in her sleep.Her "Hold Me" tour was sponsored by Chrysler,and they used her "When the Heat Hits the Street" song in their 2 Laser XT commercials.Actually the one shown with the black car is recycled later for the 85-1/2 Laser XT with the Branigan song added and different James Earl Jones voice over.80s Chryslers are very underrated,and not given the due they are deserved.At the time,Chrysler led customer satisfaction ratings and lowest recall records 3 years running.And the 91 Plymouth Acclaim was rated as most dependable American sedan.Lee Iacocca did good things back then,shame Chrysler's satisfaction ratings todays are at the bottom of the list....
 
They seem to mix up the various eras of the Mercury Capri. The one from the 80s was a slightly restyled version of the Mustang. I remember a math teacher at my HS drove one. I only recall because she sent us on an errand once to bring in boxes from her car.

The 90s version made in Australia was actually a Ford Australia 2-seat convertible design (based on a Mazda platform) that was sold as the Ford Capri there. I remember going on vacation there and seeing these things that otherwise looked exactly like the Mercury badged versions sold in the US.
 
I was thinking the other day where have all the Dodge Neons gone?
and Chevy Baretta's
 
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
They seem to mix up the various eras of the Mercury Capri. The one from the 80s was a slightly restyled version of the Mustang. I remember a math teacher at my HS drove one. I only recall because she sent us on an errand once to bring in boxes from her car.

The 90s version made in Australia was actually a Ford Australia 2-seat convertible design (based on a Mazda platform) that was sold as the Ford Capri there. I remember going on vacation there and seeing these things that otherwise looked exactly like the Mercury badged versions sold in the US.


Exactly; this is the Capri I like- the European car that was sold in the US from 1970 to 1978:
fsmu5vpkwmd0us.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: expat
I was thinking the other day where have all the Dodge Neons gone?
and Chevy Baretta's
I had a Beretta, a 1993 with the 3.1 motor. It was a great car, never let me down and I put alot of kms on it.
 
Where have all the Chevy Chevettes gone? I miss seeing those ready made coffins on the chugging their way through city traffic. The "Iron Duke" held up well in those little 4 cylinder cars.
 
Originally Posted By: mongo161
Where have all the Chevy Chevettes gone?
I had to drive my girlfriend's Chevette once. I found it to be inferior to my dad's Cub Cadet garden tractor. The Cub had similar handling and acceleration, equivalent switchgear, and it could cut the grass as well...
 
Yeah the Ford (Mercury) Capri was a really nice car and
embarrassed everything else Ford was selling in the US at the time, in terms of quality, reliability, and OVERALL performance.

That is why Dearborn stopped it sales in the USA. Similar story for the soon to come Ford Fiesta MKI which also put the Ford US built cars at the time to complete shame. The quality of the MKI Fiesta was better than the most expensive US built cars they offered at the time.
 
Originally Posted By: mongo161
Where have all the Chevy Chevettes gone? I miss seeing those ready made coffins on the chugging their way through city traffic. The "Iron Duke" held up well in those little 4 cylinder cars.



I use to work at a lumber yard and a customer often came in with a diesel model Chevette and stuffed it with lumber.
 
Another story of familiarity breeds contempt:

Early/Mid 90's Capris (known affectionately as "Cr*ppies" in the shop. I wondered what we as Americans did to cause such hatred in Australia as to foist that car upon us. It was a definition of "shop queen".

Most troublesome were the convertible tops. I forget the number of programs, TSBs and recalls we dealt with on that. I do know our trim techs were never idle.

Then there were the broken crankshaft snouts, shelled turbochargers, distributors, and boggling alignment issues. Our dealership's owner bought one as he thought they would be a "collector's item" one day. It sat covered behind the shop, and just gathered rust. We finally started to strip it of parts to aid in diagnoses of concerns where you need a "known good part" to swap in. I think when I left there it was nothing more than a rolling shell. I remember one Cr*ppie that made it in the shop for idle issues, and a new intake hose between VAF and throttle body was not available, so there was a donation made in the name of the boss.

Never have been so happy to see warranties expire on a vehicle series/line(except maybe Merkurs).

EDIT:.....and the inevitable "rainbow" stickers on the rear bumper of so many of those. Don't have a problem with it, but guys checking me out on test drives was a bit disconcerting. Flattering, but disconcerting.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: punisher

EDIT:.....and the inevitable "rainbow" stickers on the rear bumper of so many of those. Don't have a problem with it, but guys checking me out on test drives was a bit disconcerting. Flattering, but disconcerting.


Fans of Ritchie Blackmore perhaps?
 
I remember racing my neighbor who had a 82 Datsun Z and I had my dad's '79 RX-7.....the RX smoked him.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
I was thinking the other day where have all the Dodge Neons gone?
and Chevy Baretta's

I still see a few first gen Neons around and a couple just like mine, but I'm in Dodge country. It seems the old cavaliers are more popular for really cheap transport though, but they were made until 05. There was an Omni I saw fairly regularly but not lately.
Chevettes are popular for ice racing still, but never seem particularly competitive, I think they really just race among themselves as there own spec class.
 
I had an 85 Plymouth Laser Turbo, 85 Daytona Turbo, (2) 88 Daytona Pacifica's, and am 87 Daytona Shelby. I really loved mine, but I don't think they were underrated. I think they did what they had to do. Get Ma MoPar by.
 
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